The 9th Africa Business Forum organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, opened in Addis Ababa, Monday, with resounding calls for investments in Africa’s ongoing transformation. Held in the iconic Africa Hall, heads of state, captains of industry and young entrepreneurs from across the continent gathered on the theme, Financing Africa’s Future, against the backdrop of mounting global uncertainty with slowing growth, climate shocks, rising debt, and shifting supply chains.
Executive Secretary Claver Gatete noted that as global capital becomes more selective and concentrated, scale, security and future markets are assured. “The question is not whether capital exists,” he stressed. “The real question is: where will the next engines of global growth emerge?”
With the world’s youngest workforce, accelerating urbanization, rapid digital adoption and expanding consumer markets, the continent is already undergoing a structural transformation anchored in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which is creating a single market of over 1.5 billion people. Furthermore, from youth-led cocoa processing in Côte d’Ivoire, an integrated automotive value chain in Morocco, to Ethiopia’s expanding digital payments ecosystem, as evidence that Africa is beginning to export value, not just raw commodities. (ECA)
